Together with award-winning landscape designer Miria Harris, herself a stroke survivor, patients and staff joined Emmerdale’s Mark Charnock, who plays stroke survivor Marlon Dingle on the ITV show at The Garden for Recovery, the Stroke Association’s first ever show garden which was made possible thanks to the charity Project Giving Back.
Now in its permanent location next to the stroke unit at Chapel Allerton Hospital, it will provide a place for connection and rest for stroke survivors and their families, supporting them in achieving their best possible recovery.
Shaped by Miria’s own experience of stroke in 2019, which affected her ability to speak and form words properly, joined with the stories of other stroke survivors, the plants will inspire stroke recovery, both physically and mentally.
The garden is a welcoming, accessible, peaceful and sensory space for recovery. Colour and scent provide soft wayfinding for those with visual or mobility needs, and seating provides places to rest along the way. Over 88,000 people survive a stroke every year in the UK, but surviving a stroke is just the start of a long path to finding a way back to life.
Kevin Doughty, stroke survivor and patient receiving therapy from the stroke rehabilitation team at Chapel Allerton Hospital, said:
“The garden is a lovely place for people like me and my family to use to help with my recovery. It’s very peaceful and helps me reconnect with the outside world and build confidence while having rehabilitation therapy.”
Craige Richardson, Director of Estates and Facilities, at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “Having the Stroke Association’s Garden for Recovery at Chapel Allerton Hospital is hugely beneficial to our patients and positively impacts the environment. Not only does the garden provide patients and staff with direct access to nature, which is known to have a positive impact on recovery and wellbeing, it also increases the biodiversity of the landscape and enhances green infrastructure, a building block for climate resilience that supports our longer-term Sustainability commitment.”
Photograph: Pictured left to right Juliet Bouverie, Chief Executive, Stroke Association, Mark Charnock, actor, Professor Phil Wood, Chief Executive Leeds Teaching Hospitals, Miria Harris, garden designer.